Meeting With Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

Remarks Following Meeting With Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas

RemarksJohn
KerrySecretary of StateMuqata'a, RamallahJuly
23, 2014

Excuse me. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank
you.

I have been in constant touch with President Abbas
and the Palestinian Authority over the course of the last
months. But particularly in the last days, we have been
talking about how to achieve an end to the current violence
and an effort to try to not only have a cease-fire, but
build a process that can create a sustainable way forward
for everybody. I’m very grateful to President Abbas for
his leadership, for his deep engagement in the effort to try
to find a cease-fire. He has traveled tirelessly, he has
been working with all of the interested groups and parties,
and encouraging people to do the responsible thing, which is
to come to the table – not only have a cease-fire, but
then negotiate the immediate issues and the underlying
issues.

We had a good conversation today about how we can
take further steps, and we’re doing this for one simple
reason: The people in the Palestinian territories, the
people in Israel, are all living under the threat or reality
of immediate violence, and this needs to end for everybody.
We need to find a way forward that works, and it’s not
violence. President Abbas has been committed to nonviolence
and committed to a harder route. Sometimes it’s very
satisfying for people to see the immediate impact of the
violence, but it doesn’t take you to a solution. President
Abbas understands the road to the solution, and that’s
what we’re working for.

So we will continue to push for
this cease-fire. We will continue to work with President
Abbas and others in the region in order to achieve it. And I
can tell you that we have, in the last 24 hours, made some
progress in moving towards that goal. And I will leave here
now with President Abbas’ thoughts about how we could make
some progress, and I will go and meet with Prime Minister
Netanyahu and subsequently return to Cairo, where we will
continue in the hopes that before long, we can change course
and, for everybody’s sake, end this violence and move to a
sustainable program for the future.

Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, raises his fist in the air while addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall. UN Photo/P. Sudhakaran More>>